1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a long range steerable electric vehicle of the type which has at least three wheels, an aero-dynamically shaped body with substantially reduced frontal area, constructed of lightweight, impact resistant and energy absorbing materials and which has enhanced the safety of driving by configuration of its components and by sheltered location of the passengers, as well as by selection of the structures, materials and tires.
Said vehicle has also highly advanced propulsion systems, an optional non-polluting and economical power back-up system and other optional equipment.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Prior art electric automobiles for two or more passengers are of similar construction as internal combustion engine automobiles; that is to say that the driver and one passenger were seated side by side, and the automobiles had three or four wheels in open sockets or recesses, due to the requirement that the wheels protrude from the contour of the body during steering, the need to minimize the width of the vehicle, and also due to access for wheel replacement and service.
However, this structure contributes to high aerodynamic drag and resultant higher energy consumption, especially at speeds above 35 miles per hour.
The need for lower drag and less electric energy consumption and thus increased range, have been addressed so far only by improving the aerodynamic shape of the vehicle by streamlining and smoothing the vehicle body, reclining the windshield, lowering the vehicle height, and to a smaller degree, reducing the weight.
The battery packs for electric vehicles have usually been located in the front or back of the vehicle, which unfavorably affects the center of gravity and vehicle handling, or in some instances, the battery packs have been mounted on the centerline of the vehicle in a tunnel.
The center tunnel construction further contributes to increased body width, placing the passengers further apart and thus increasing the frontal area, aerodynamic drag, weight and energy consumption. The center tunnel construction also makes servicing of the batteries more difficult, due to their limited access.
GB Patent #2,254,055 of Bothwell discloses a four wheeled vehicle with tandem seating of the two passengers, but does not teach location of batteries or fuel cells in lower side compartments, lengthwise between the wheels, outside of the passenger compartment.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,647,012 of Walker discloses a small removable starter battery from a lower side compartment, but located behind the rear wheel of an internal combustion engine vehicle. Large electric vehicle batteries in this location would adversely impact center of gravity and steering of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,752 of Albright teaches an electric vehicle construction having batteries as structural members, including high side batteries. Electric vehicle of the invention does not use batteries as structural members and has low level batteries removable from low level side tunnels.
JP-6-156316 patent of Suzuki teaches an electric automobile having tandem seating of the passengers, but clearly shows less aerodynamic vehicle with location of batteries under the rear seat—(not on sides), which results in larger (higher) frontal area, increased drag, reduced safety of the driver during frontal impact and an unstable vehicle with the center of gravity close to the rear wheels.
None of the above patents discloses or suggests a selective combination of these references, nor suggests the vehicle as described in this patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,567,169 of Patterson teaches a very narrow and tall rear view mirror recessed inside of the front part of the window frame of the vehicle door. Patterson does not teach anything about streamlining of the mirrors and air drag reduction, and provides very limited rear view angle due to the narrowness of his mirror, and the rear part of the window frame is obstructing the view directly rearward. This patent's wide and low recessed mirrors in the sides of the vehicle of the invention and on the outside of the windows have no such obstruction due to the step down in the upper sides of the vehicle of the invention, at the base of the side windows, and provide wide angle and better views rearward, even through the side windows.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,018 of Galla teaches a hinged fender skirt covering the rear wheel, but does not teach top hinged panels covering the front wheels. The front wheels of Galla's conventional vehicle protrude from the body during steering and thus would interfere with the front panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,505 of Jensen discloses a honeycomb structure, but not in the sides of the vehicle. Jensen uses honeycomb only as a secondary, “stage 2” layer, and only in combination with cellular foam of “stage 1” layer in the front end of the vehicle. Structures in this patent use the honeycomb alone as a primary filler. It would not be obvious to use honeycomb in the sides of the vehicle, because Jensen's vehicle does not provide for thick sides because it does not have low side batteries and tandem seating of the passengers. There is no reason to add thickness of Jensen's vehicle side, since it would only increase the air drag and weight.
The vehicle body frame, or cage, was usually made from steel or aluminum of various sections, welded together, and with the body panels attached to the frame. The vehicle may also have a self-supporting body shell made of stamped steel or aluminum sheet metal, or made of a fiber and resin composite material. The fibers used have been glass, carbon, aramid and other polymers. Vehicle construction which uses steel, or glass fibers produces a body which is relatively heavy for use in an advanced electric vehicle. While aluminum metal is lightweight, it is not the most lightweight structural metal. Carbon fibers are brittle and dangerous in a crash, as they have low impact resistance, and aramid fibers are not the most lightweight fibers.
Magnesium is known to be used in automotive application and consumer products only in small components or secondary structures like casted covers, brackets, or computer casings. Spacecraft structures sometimes use welded magnesium extrusions, which are expensive due to requirement of special inert atmosphere for welding, the need for complex welding fixtures and heat treatment after welding to relieve stress in the structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,080 of Janotik et al. discloses a vehicle body frame formed from welded extrusions joined together with aid of open U-shaped channels and an adhesive, at their length. Janotik does not use fittings. The fitting is the structural element for joining the ends of the tubes, pipes or similar parts together, approximately at their intersection points in a plane or three dimensional space. The ends of tubes are slide-inserted into, or over the fittings with an adhesive, or are press-fitted, or are threaded. Janotik's sleeve (90) is an open U-shaped channel, only covering the tube member (66) and it is also crimped to the rocker (72). It is not a fitting as described and claimed in this patent. Janotik also does not teach a vehicle body frame made of magnesium alloy, and uses an adhesive in combination with crimping to join together only frame subassemblies, not all individual elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,364 of Jarema discloses a plastic layer on a foam core, but does not teach composite sandwich construction of body panel with a metal foam core. Composite sandwich is a core having composite skins on both sides (surfaces). Jarema discloses only one plastic layer coated on one side and furthermore it is not a composite layer, such as fibers embedded in a resin matrix.
The prior art electrical vehicles often have high pressure air filled tires, which can blow out and cause accidents.
Since the electric motors used in prior art vehicles do not generate appreciable quantities of heat and because the use of electricity for heating and cooling of the vehicle passenger compartment may be impractical due to the high energy drain on the batteries, prior art electric vehicles use auxiliary gasoline, diesel or kerosene fueled heating/cooling systems, but these systems continue pollution of the atmosphere and defeat the non-pollution purpose of electric vehicles.
In addition, prior art electric vehicles have very limited ranges, not only because of their body weight and high drag, but also because they utilize low specific energy density batteries.
Hybrid electric vehicle construction has been proposed, but the non-electric portion is not free from atmospheric pollution.
An engine which only reduces the atmospheric pollution and extends the range is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,865 of Dufour which discloses a hydrogen generating cell used only as a supplement to a conventional gas fuel, such as gasoline, to improve the efficiency of the engine. Dufour does not teach non-polluting, hydrogen generating system which is consuming only water, or only water and hydrogen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,875 of Laumann et al. discloses a hydrogen-oxygen fueled, closed cycle internal combustion engine system in combination with solar cells, and which uses a pressurized noble gas, such as argon, as a working fluid, and which stores hydrogen and oxygen gases in storage devices under high pressure, which is very dangerous, heavy and space demanding. Such system would be also too heavy and bulky, thus limiting the range and would be difficult to seal in a vehicle. Laumann does not include or suggest combination with batteries, electric motors or a vehicle.
“Handbook of Batteries and Fuel Cells” by David Linden, McGraw Hill Inc., 1984, page 42–8 discloses a hydrogen production on demand only in a Kipp chemical reactor by contacting a metal hydride powder with water, under controlled conditions. However, all prior art reactor systems produce a waste material which must be disposed of, and are dangerous to handle due to highly flammable hydrides when exposed to moisture or moist air. There is also virtually no infrastructure available for these metal hydrides.
The low drag, lightweight, highly energized, safer, non-polluting and long range electric vehicle construction of the invention does not suffer from prior art problems and provides many positive advantages.